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Hello, here's a quick rundown of facts before I get to my questions.
My brother and I moved from Seattle, WA to Escondido, CA in Oct, 2015. We brought our ailing mother with us hoping the better climate would help her health. We rented a home for a one year lease term beginning Nov 1, 2015. The lease has a Lease Termination clause allowing us to terminate early and pay a fee of one extra month's rent.
Our mother's health has deteriorated further down here, and with the higher cost of living, higher rent, and state income tax we went from saving money every month to living paycheck-to-paycheck. So we are planning to move back to Seattle in March.
My question is not about the legality of the lease termination fee, my question is more regarding the timeline of the fee. A date or timeline is not in the lease clause. I've already told our LL that Feb will be our last month in the rental, and he said to give him the termination fee with our Feb rent on Feb 1st.
My question is does it have to be on the first, or is there a window of time that allows us a little more flexibility? I've tried to see if CA law states anything regarding periods where payments or fees are due and cannot find anything.
Is there any chance anyone here might have some experience with this and could let me know?
What is the actual language in the lease regarding the termination fee?
Does it say anything about an additional penalty if you do not pay the termination fee before you move out?
If you can afford to pay the termination fee and still be able to cover your relocation expenses and new rent, you should do so. But, if you don't have the money, you don't have it. Sounds like the landlord should have never rented to you if your income was that tight. Without knowing more about the actual language in the lease I will offer the following. Write the landlord a letter, give him the required written notice as stated in your lease, or the 30 days notice required under CA state laws. State in the letter that that you agree to pay the termination fee, unfortunatly do not currently have the money but you promise to pay it ASAP.
That is not how it is suppose to be done, but if you don't have the money it may be the best you can do.
Offer in the written letter that if it is agreeable to him, and your deposit is large enough, you agree to him retaining the deposit. Make sure you leave the property in immaculate condition and sparkling clean, so there is no reason for him to assess additional damages. Take lots of photographs to document the condition after you moved out. You may need them later.
If you take this route you need to be darn sure that you pay the landlord what you owe him ASAP, even if it means a partial payment the first month, just to demonstrate to him that you are trying to honor your promise. If you don't do this, the landlord may sue you and you could end up with a judgement against you on your credit record, which will haunt you for years to come and make it hard for you to get approved for credit or rentals in the future.
Thanks for the reply, and there is some good information there.
I won't challenge the termination fee, it's in the lease (without any specific dates for paying it). My question is just when is the proper time to give him the fee. I intend to vacate by Feb 28th, I was just wondering if it's reasonable for him to ask for the fee along with the rent on Feb 1st.
Hello, here's a quick rundown of facts before I get to my questions.
My brother and I moved from Seattle, WA to Escondido, CA in Oct, 2015. We brought our ailing mother with us hoping the better climate would help her health. We rented a home for a one year lease term beginning Nov 1, 2015. The lease has a Lease Termination clause allowing us to terminate early and pay a fee of one extra month's rent.
Our mother's health has deteriorated further down here, and with the higher cost of living, higher rent, and state income tax we went from saving money every month to living paycheck-to-paycheck. So we are planning to move back to Seattle in March.
My question is not about the legality of the lease termination fee, my question is more regarding the timeline of the fee. A date or timeline is not in the lease clause. I've already told our LL that Feb will be our last month in the rental, and he said to give him the termination fee with our Feb rent on Feb 1st.
My question is does it have to be on the first, or is there a window of time that allows us a little more flexibility? I've tried to see if CA law states anything regarding periods where payments or fees are due and cannot find anything.
Is there any chance anyone here might have some experience with this and could let me know?
Thank you in advance
Well technically there is no termination fee in California. The way it works is LL has to mitigate
Basically
Tenant has to give notice of 30 days that they are leaving/breaking lease. Say you give notice Feb 1st with your paid rent and you move out by Feb 31st. You return keys property in good condition. This does not mean your lease is terminated at all. You are simply giving up possession of the property. Youbarecstill responsible for the lease.
Meanwhile for the month of February LL is/has been notified you are leaving and by state law has to mitigate. He places a ad gives 24 hr notices he is showing the place etc. rents the place to new tenant.
If the new tenant can move in say March 1st, you are done. The LL has 21 days to return your security deposit money less and damage repairs with a itemized list of deductions.
If the new tenant cannot move in say until March 15th you are required to pay the days the place stays vacant.
The amount of monetary consideration for a lease termination agreement is fully negotiable. It is not set by California law.
In your case, you negotiated and agreed upon a one month equivalent as the consideration. I think it is more than generous for the landlord to agree to accept only one month. Taking the worse case scenario, the landlord could have left it open and shifted the risk of finding (or not finding) a replacement tenant to you. Under such circumstances, your liability exposure is substantially higher.
I would assume that the landlord will not officially release you from your obligations under the lease until the agreed termination fee is received.
The amount of monetary consideration for a lease termination agreement is fully negotiable. It is not set by California law.
In your case, you negotiated and agreed upon a one month equivalent as the consideration. I think it is more than generous for the landlord to agree to accept only one month. Taking the worse case scenario, the landlord could have left it open and shifted the risk of finding (or not finding) a replacement tenant to you. Under such circumstances, your liability exposure is substantially higher.
I would assume that the landlord will not officially release you from your obligations under the lease until the agreed termination fee is received.
Sure if the LL agrees to a negotiated payment to terminate ok. That's between both parties agreeing to end a agreement. You just can't impose a termination fee in a lease. I wasn't sure if the fee was imposed or agreed upon. If it was imposed its not enforceable. Most LL don't negotiate as such. Most want to have all the rent covered from tenant to tenant. I have done it on one occasion, where the tenant signed a lease and then was moving away but already took possession and moved a few things in. Decided to take a job elsewhere. We agreed on me keeping the first month rent even though they were just in for I think four days. I called the next applicant in line and I had the tenant accept immediately but could not move in till next month in the 10th. So "technically" I had10 days unpaid rent. Ok whatever. Nobody maliciously went after anyone.
If the new tenant was moving in immediately after the first tenant, in a normal situation I would be refunding the remaining days the first tenant paid for.
I normally get a 30 day notice and most of my leases when people terminate are no longer under a year lease.
I would just end the lease as soon as possible to take possession simply because I don't want to deal with drama.
Last edited by Electrician4you; 01-13-2016 at 09:56 AM..
I've got a similar question. We are on a year lease til end of Sept, but want to move back to CA (from OR) as early as July. There is a listed early term fee on our lease. My question is, are we going to be liable for the early term fee, a mths rent, AND our security deposit if we early terminate?? The little "early term clause" in small print is super complicated to understand.
Side note: this complex is in a high demand area so finding a new tenant will NOT take them longer than a week. HOWEVER, we personally know they are upgrading the units and planning to do roof repairs this summer, so I'm a little paranoid that they could take this as an opportunity to not find a new tenant for a mth or so, just so they can do the upgrades and repairs on the building. Would they be legally allowed to do this and possibly charge us for it ?
I've got a similar question. We are on a year lease til end of Sept, but want to move back to CA (from OR) as early as July. There is a listed early term fee on our lease. My question is, are we going to be liable for the early term fee, a mths rent, AND our security deposit if we early terminate?? The little "early term clause" in small print is super complicated to understand.
Side note: this complex is in a high demand area so finding a new tenant will NOT take them longer than a week. HOWEVER, we personally know they are upgrading the units and planning to do roof repairs this summer, so I'm a little paranoid that they could take this as an opportunity to not find a new tenant for a mth or so, just so they can do the upgrades and repairs on the building. Would they be legally allowed to do this and possibly charge us for it ?
If you agreed to a termination fee and its in the lease it's enforceable. Your security deposit cannot be (normally) used for rent. It has a specific designated usage which is for damages other than wear and tear. If you pay the termination fee and leave the place spotless you should be getting your full security deposit back
Not sure about Oregon laws. But if you and the LL agreed to a early termination from the beginning, you pay the fee and that's it. You paid the penalty of leaving early with that fee. The security deposit it is a separate transaction.
I've never had a early termination fee in my leases.
I guess they could play the I can't find a tenant game and try to sneak your security deposit as "repairs" but protect yourself. Take pics and look up the legalities if your state as to allowable return times of your deposit.
If you agreed to a termination fee and its in the lease it's enforceable. Your security deposit cannot be (normally) used for rent. It has a specific designated usage which is for damages other than wear and tear. If you pay the termination fee and leave the place spotless you should be getting your full security deposit back
Not sure about Oregon laws. But if you and the LL agreed to a early termination from the beginning, you pay the fee and that's it. You paid the penalty of leaving early with that fee. The security deposit it is a separate transaction.
I've never had a early termination fee in my leases.
I guess they could play the I can't find a tenant game and try to sneak your security deposit as "repairs" but protect yourself. Take pics and look up the legalities if your state as to allowable return times of your deposit.
Thanks for the reply!
We have a really detailed move in sheet b/c the place wasn't even cleaned prior to us moving in (we thought it would be, but nope). So it was pretty gross, and it will be just as gross when we move out.
As for the security deposit, our lease doesn't even detail if most of is refundable or not. We paid $1200, with $300 of that clearly being labeled refundable b/c of the dogs, but the rest isn't clear. What are the laws on something like that?? Are they to assume it's not refundable and were planning to keep $900 for god knows what anyway?
We have a really detailed move in sheet b/c the place wasn't even cleaned prior to us moving in (we thought it would be, but nope). So it was pretty gross, and it will be just as gross when we move out.
As for the security deposit, our lease doesn't even detail if most of is refundable or not. We paid $1200, with $300 of that clearly being labeled refundable b/c of the dogs, but the rest isn't clear. What are the laws on something like that?? Are they to assume it's not refundable and were planning to keep $900 for god knows what anyway?
I don't know about Oregon. If the laws are structured like California the deposit is refundable. And let's say even if I had repairs deemed damage I can't just charge whatever I want. It has to be inline with going prices. So I cant charge $300 to replace something that would cost $40 to replace.
I would make sure you take pics of everything before you leave. Hopefully you have at least a walk through inspection list
I never understood why some LL don't clean and fix their places before showing them.
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